


Beyond the Void

by Rubber_Radish



Category: Blackwell Series (Video Games), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: All the shenanigans, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Jokes, Gen, Ghosts, High School, Not Beta Read, Probably Slightly Angsty, Teen Peter Parker, unlikely friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:28:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29507613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rubber_Radish/pseuds/Rubber_Radish
Summary: Peter Parker is familiar with the concepts of power and responsibility. After all, he's taken up the mantle of Spider-Man, and does whatever he can to help out his Aunt May after the recent death of his uncle. But he never expected that helping the souls of the dead pass on accompanied by a snarky '30s ghost would be one of those responsibilities.Now Peter has to juggle saving ghosts along with being Spider-Man, while somehow navigating his high school life. Did he mention he's stuck with a ghost he can't get rid of?Set before Homecoming. Can be read fandom-blind!
Relationships: Joey Mallone & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

It had started with a headache. More than a headache, really. A migraine? Yeah, that was probably it. It had been bad enough to get Peter sent to the school nurse. Then get sent home. He was fine, he’d insisted. It came and went. He couldn’t miss chem lab. Ned was his lab partner, and Peter knew for sure that he wouldn’t have been able to carry the experiment on his own, as much as he’d like to believe it. But when it had hit him again during fifth period, Ms. Warren had sent him to the nurse despite his protests. The nurse hadn’t done much more than give him a bag of ice and an offer to call Aunt May. And now he was here. At home, on his bed an hour before school would end with a pillow over his head, hoping the pain would just go away.

  
The nurse had suggested the migraines could’ve been a result of grief. And maybe that made some sense. It had only been a few days since Ben had... Ugh. Peter pulled the pillow down tighter. He’d wanted to stay in school. He had to stay in school. If he let his grades slip- No, he couldn’t. He’d already let Ben down, and May didn’t need any more things on her plate. She didn’t need to worry about whether he’d graduate, or about his future. She already did more than enough, anyway. The last few days had been hard on her. No, that wasn’t true. The last few months had. Ben had been... acting differently. He would stay out late, doing who knows what. But Peter knew one thing. He would always come back tired. Exhausted, even. And things had grown tense.

  
Peter had heard all of it. The arguing, no matter how much they tried to shield him from it. It had started out as just concern. But then it had become a habit, and May couldn’t keep her suspicions of infidelity quiet forever. Ben had promised he would never do such a thing, but could also never come up with an explanation for his nightly excursions. And then he’d died. And it had been Peter’s fault.

Spider-Man. That’s who Peter was, now. The friendly neighborhood Spider-Man who’d let his own uncle die. It had been so easy to lose himself in the persona, in what little he could control in his own life. He couldn’t stop May and Ben from arguing. He couldn’t stop his uncle from going out for unfathomable reasons. Though it didn’t stop him from trying to keep tabs on him. He wondered if May had known. Known about how many times she’d ended up being home alone at night.

  
Ben hadn’t been cheating. It hadn’t looked like he’d been doing much of anything, to be completely honest. He’d go all over the city, to all these locations without a semblance of rhyme or reason, all the while talking to himself. It was insane. All of it had been absolutely insane. And Peter had been frustrated that night. He’d only gone out to clear his head, to get some space away from everything.

  
So he’d looked the other way when the robber had left the corner store.

  
First the spider powers, and then what had happened to Ben, now this stupid headache. So yeah, maybe he was a little stressed. It just felt like he was never going to get a break. Maybe he should get some water. Or some ibuprofen, at that.

  
Peter threw his pillow to the other end of the bed, sitting up. Immediately, his head protested the sudden movement, searing pain rushing through. God, what was-  
The pain subsided as soon as he had the thought. Completely, as if it’d never existed. He stood up rather hesitantly, waiting for it to come back. Instead, he felt... a light breeze? The window was closed. So why were the curtains-

  
“Hi there.”

  
Peter yelped as a figure appeared before him. The blue, translucent figure of a man, dressed in a suit and tie.

  
“Peter?” May’s voice called out from downstairs. “Is something wrong?”

  
“N-nothing, May!” he stammered. “I, uh- just saw a bug!”

  
The man seemed offended by the notion. “Really?” he scoffed. “A bug?”

  
“It was the only thing I could think of!” Peter protested. He examined the figure more closely. A hologram, maybe? He couldn’t see where it could’ve been projected from, but the man clearly didn’t have legs.

  
“Hey. Hey, kid, are you paying attention?”

  
Peter looked back up. “Did SHIELD send you?” Maybe Nick Fury had a mission for him. An important one.

  
The man raised an eyebrow. “Did _what_?”

  
“SHIELD,” Peter repeated. Their agents wore suits, from what Peter could remember. But he had the feeling the man didn’t know what the organization was. “Never mind. If you’re not an agent, who are you?”

  
“Right. I was getting to that.” The man shook his head, sighing. “Let’s try this again.” He cleared his throat, plastering on a smile. “Hi there. I’m Joey. And I’m a ghost.”

  
Peter blinked, letting the words sink in. “ You’re what?”

  
“A ghost. You don’t have hearing problems, do you?”

  
“N-no!” Peter denied, a little too quickly. Hang on a second. “Wait, ghosts are real?”

  
“As far as I know.” Joey shrugged. “I’m sure you’ve got questions. So lay ‘em on me. Honestly, the fact you’re still conscious is already pretty impressive. Maybe it’s part of the ‘superpower’ thing?”

  
Peter couldn’t stop his mouth from dropping open. “You know about that? About me being Spider-Man?”

  
“Er, yes? I don’t exactly sleep. And face it, kid, you’re not exactly subtle, either. I’m surprised your identity is secret at all.”

This was crazy. He was going crazy. Peter backed away a few steps, swaying slightly. His head spun. “How long have you been watching me?”

  
“You specifically? Since this morning. But I was with your uncle before that.”

  
“You... knew Ben?” It was starting to make a little more sense now. The late nights, the disappearances. He’d been doing practically the same thing Peter was. “That’s why he was acting weird. Because of you?”

  
“I guess you could say that. He took to the role pretty quick.”

  
“...Role?” Oh, man, he did not feel good. He was talking to a ghost. This wasn’t a prank, was it? If it was, how would he know about Peter being Spider-Man? Nope. He was haunted. Or maybe he was hallucinating. He was officially...

  
“Uh, you might want to sit down, kid. You’re looking a little...”

  
Peter blacked out before his body hit the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, boy. This is kind of a side project as I stew away at my main fic, so updates may be infrequent. I'm writing this out of my love for the Blackwell Series, so if you like this fic and/or narrative adventure (point/click) games, check them out! No, this isn't just a shill I just wish there was a fandom ok :(
> 
> I'm not planning on putting any game spoilers in this story, either, in case that is a concern. It is post-canon in a wonky way.


	2. Chapter 2

When Peter awoke, he was back in bed, May dabbing at his forehead with a damp towel.

“Oh, Peter, thank goodness. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, May. Yeah... Must’ve just been my head.”

“Okay, sweetie. I’ve already called you out of school tomorrow, so you don’t need to worry about that, and...”

She kept speaking, but her words went over his head as he noticed the blue figure floating behind her. So he hadn’t disappeared after all. “Hey, May...?”

“Mhm?”

“Behind you... Do you... see that?”

Peter could see one of Joey’s eyes twitch as May turned around, glancing around the room before turning back.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she said, eyebrows knitting in worry. “Everything looks fine to me. Are you seeing something strange?”

“No, you’re not,” Joey hissed, the glare in his eyes more than enough to clue Peter off.

“...No,” he said, albeit hesitantly. “I’m not.”

Joey nodded, but the tension hadn’t quite left his shoulders. “Good boy. Trust me, alright? You listen to me, things will go smoother. You get us stuck in Bellevue, and things will go badly. For both of us.”

Peter gave the smallest nod before looking back at May, forcing an uneasy smile. “I think... I think I still need to rest a bit. I’ll see you at dinner?”

She smiled back, unsuccessfully attempting to mask the concern in her gaze. “Sure thing, honey. You tell me if you need anything, okay?”

“Sure, May.” He watched her go, sighing in relief as the door shut behind her. “So, no one else can see you,” he said, facing Joey.

“What gave it away?”

Peter chose to ignore the comment, looking down at his hands. “And I’m not crazy.”

“Not this time, sorry.”

Peter ran the rest of their conversation through his head as he sat up. “You said my uncle had a role. But he’s gone now, so... is that why you’re here?”

“More or less.” Joey sighed as if he’d had this same conversation one too many times. “Congratulations, Pete,” he said, floating over. “You’re a medium. And I’m the unlucky spook who gets to be your spirit guide.” He paused a moment, raising an eyebrow. “Are you following so far?”

“Yeah. I think so.” Peter squinted at him, trying to make out his expression. “So are you just here, like, forever?”

“I can’t go away, if that’s what you’re asking. The furthest I can go is... twenty? Maybe thirty feet away?”

Oh. “So you’re going to follow me to school?” That would be weird. Peter was already used to being the weird kid as it was, but somehow, having the apparition of a man following him everywhere was going to make it just a little harder.

“I mean, I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“Right, right.” Peter tilted his head. “So, who are you?”

“Eh? Didn’t I answer that already?”

“No, like, I wanna know about you,” Peter insisted. “I figured since we’re stuck together, I could get to know you.”

Joey shook his head. “Does it matter? I’m dead.”

“Come on, I wanna know.” Peter’s eyes went wide in a moment of realization, hand flying to his mouth. “Oh my God, were you a gangster?”

“What? No!”

“That’s why you died, isn’t it? You were a career criminal and now you have to make up for it by-”

“Okay, take it back like five steps,” Joey interrupted, holding his hands out. “ _ What? _ ”

“I’m right, aren’t I?”

“No, you’re not-” he took a deep breath, putting a hand to his forehead. “How old are you?”

“Uh... I turn fifteen in a month.”

“Jesus.” Joey turned away, shaking his head.

Peter watched him for a few moments before he got up, taking a hesitant step forward. “I’m, uh, I’m sorry if I offended you with the gangster stuff.”

“No, it’s not that.” Joey turned back around, giving him a brief look-over. “You’re really just a kid, aren’t you?”

“I mean, I’m not  _ just _ a kid, I’ve got...” Peter flexed his fingers, frowning at the palm of his hand. “Well, you know...” He looked back up, meeting the ghost’s gaze. “You’re not gonna tell anyone, are you?”

Joey laughed. “Who am I supposed to tell? The dead?”

“Okay, but you know my secret. Don’t you think it would be fair to share something back?”

He could see a flicker of agreement in Joey’s eyes, though his hardened expression didn’t shift in the slightest. “Fine. But don’t ask me how I died. That’s personal.”

“Where are you from?”

“What?” He couldn’t hide his surprise. “ _ That’s _ what you want to know?”

Peter nodded.

“Really. Fair enough, then. New York. Born and raised.” Joey stopped for a moment, lip twisting. “And died, I guess.”

Huh. Peter didn’t know what he’d been expecting. In theory, ghosts could be from anywhere, but it made sense that they would stay local. That’s how it always worked in movies and TV anyway, though he had a feeling everything he knew from the media was going to go out the window really quick. “So, how does the ghost thing work? Do I need an EMF detector or something?”

“You’ve got eyes, don’t you? If you see me, you’ll see the rest of the spooks.” Joey floated a little closer, slipping off his tie. “Here. Take a hold of this. I wanna show you something.”

Peter blinked a few times as he looked down at it. “I can touch that?”

“Yep. That, and nothing else. So give it a go.”

He took the tie in his hand, running a thumb over the surface. The fabric felt fuzzy under his fingertips, like pulling a blanket out of a drier. Invisible sparks seemed to trail the glowing edge of the tie, which felt both solid and like holding nothing at all. It had no weight, but when Peter swung it around, it moved with the inertia of an ordinary necktie.

“Hey, be careful with that!”

“Sorry.” He stopped swinging it around.

Joey grabbed onto the other end, looking him in the eye. “Okay, kid. When you’re ready, pull.”

“Pull?”

“That’s what I said.”

Peter looked down, blinking a few times. Oh, boy. “I’m uh, really hoping this doesn’t get me roped into some kind of evil plan or whatever. You’re not an  _ evil _ ghost, are you?”

“Would you just-”

“Sorry, sorry.” This was probably a bad idea. Oh well. Taking one last deep breath, Peter yanked the tie and got sucked into another dimension.

* * *

It felt like plunging himself underwater, faster than he could even swing through the city. And just as quickly as the sensation came, it stopped, and he was on his hands and knees somewhere. The ground wasn’t the carpet in his room anymore. It felt cold under his palms. Hard. Stone?

“You can open your eyes, kid.”

So Peter did. Slowly, at first. There were tiles in front of him. Stone tiles, stretching out in a path that twisted away from him, into nothingness. There literally wasn’t anything else around. All around them was an all-encompassing darkness, dotted with what looked like a countless amount of glittering stars. Behind him was a portal of some kind, its light blue center swirling like glitter in water. And to his left was... a light.

Maybe not  _ a _ light, but  _ the _ light. It was bright, brighter than anything he’d ever seen, and yet it didn’t hurt his eyes to look at. He almost didn’t have the words to describe it. It was beautiful. Maybe the most beautiful thing Peter had ever seen.

“What is this place?” he whispered.

“Remember those headaches of yours?” Joey asked, gazing into the light almost wistfully. “That was this place opening up.”

“We’re... in my head?”

“Pretty much.”

Peter contemplated this a moment. “Where’s my brain?”

“What? ” Joey shot him a quizzical look. “Do I look like a doctor to you?”

“No. You look like a gangster.”

The ghost sighed. “Look, you want the lowdown, or what?”

“Yeah.”

“Basically,” Joey started, “most spooks aren’t exactly sane. They might not know where they are, or even their own names. And they definitely  _ don’t _ know that they’re dead. So we get to do the dirty work. Talk sense into them, so to say. Find something personal to them, do some digging. You following?”

Peter nodded.

“And once a spook is aware, you can bring them here the same way you just brought me. Then they pass on through the light.”

“That seems simple enough.”

Joey cracked a grin. “Kid, do you have any restraining orders?”

“Not that I know of.”

“See how long you can keep it that way.”


End file.
